The Duck Thread

[holm25]

Crested means they will have a tuft on there head .

 

[Alice28]

They are 3 weeks old today.

Mine were three weeks yesterday! Except Kristof. She was five days old when we got here. So she's four weeks now

 

[Starfire669]

Crested means they will have a tuft on there head .

Crests in ducks is caused by a skull deformity. The deformity can cause neurological issues in the ducks. A male and female crested should never be bred together.

 

[theWtrio]

Yeah, it's more than a tuft, it's the deformity that can cause other issues down the line. Had I known, I wouldn't have gotten these ducklings, most likely. But they are incredibly sweet, and I didn't know at the time. All is well. =)

 

[Lacrystol]

AWWWWW THAT"S GREAT NEWS THAT YOUR RESCUED HIM. HE LOOKS VERY HAPPY.... GOOD JOB ON GETTING HIM SOME FRIENDS because ducks do not like to be alone.. You may have a WILD Mallard for LIFE. GOOD DEAL...

 

[holm25]

You mean to say our cayuga Tufty has a tuft because she has a messed up head and Mr. Princess our one of our two cayuga drakes has head problems .

Don't judge the names my brother named Mr. Princess.

 

[Starfire669]

You mean to say our cayuga Tufty has a tuft because she has a messed up head and Mr. Princess our one of our two cayuga drakes has head problems .


Don't judge the names my brother named Mr. Princess.

I am having trouble following that post, sorry.

The crest in ducks is a skull deformity, the area directly under the crest is open. There is NO skull bone there, just a fat deposit, so a knock to the head can kill a crested easily. In addition to the dangers of an open skull, the crest deformity causes neurological issues such as death in the shell, and seizures in ducklings that do manage to hatch. It is very heartbreaking and is why I personally won't breed my cresteds.

If Tufty has a crest then yes, her skull is deformed. If Mr. Princess also has a crest then yup, his skull is deformed as well. With a male and female crested you do not want them to breed together. A crested to crested mating will cause most of the ducklings to die before hatching, the majority of the few ducklings that hatch will die of seizures growing up, few if any would survive to adulthood. If you want the crested look, you breed a crested duck to a non-created duck. You will have fewer deaths that way.

 

[holm25]

So if i hit my crested drake i will kill him . Also he eats eggs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[holm25]

I'm a confusing person.

 

[Starfire669]

So if i hit my crested drake i will kill him . Also he eats eggs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I didn't mean to imply you hit your ducks, I was more referring to a drake mounting a female. If the drake is too rough, he can knock her head and cause seizures and death, especially since the crest makes a nice place to grab and hold a female by.

The egg eating is not hard. Put fake eggs in the nests, he won't be able to break them. Just check the nests often and collect the eggs before he figures out which ones are breakable and which ones aren't. I did this with some chickens and it worked well.